Lean Management Goes Viral

Have you ever wondered what is like to be a virus? Perhaps it is not much different than it is to be a human. We share the need for connection. Look inside to learn about the steps of relationship building and their impact on distribution of lean management knowledge and our lives.

Today I would like to share a visual control I made back in the Spring of 2018, toward the end of my Lean Supply Chain class. It was designed to remind me of the lessons I wanted to remember for many years to come. 

While reviewing the material covered in class, a vivid image of a virus stood in my mind. As I explored its relations to lean management, I realized the two can be juxtaposed.  

Kaboom! Wham! Voila! The virus came to be…

The first thing that made itself known was the need for connections – means of getting a job done effectively and efficiently. The steps outlined below represent a cycle of developing relationships:

  1. Virus: Needs a host cell to grow
    Human: Needs other people for development
  2. Virus: Evolves an approach to enter the cell
    Human: Establishes a way to connect
  3. Virus: Synthesizes a tail tube
    Human: Creates initial connections and finds commonalities
  4. Virus: Integrates its RNA into a host DNA
    Human: Acquires and shares knowledge
  5. Virus: Recombines and mutates
    Human: Continuously develops as an individual

Let’s take a closer look at it.

A virus is only alive when penetrating a host cell that provides the right environment for it to spread. Similarly, a person needs a dynamic social stimulus to expand upon her social skills, which greatly contribute to her ability to get things done. Social skills cannot be learned in isolation.

Over the years a virus has evolved an approach to enter a host cell. Likewise, instead of blindly throwing ourselves at others, we need a strategy. Such a strategy must incorporate values (e.g. respect, humility, and kindness) with which we are obliged to treat others. 

With a predetermined strategy, a virus synthesizes a tail tube that creates an aqueduct of free-flowing information (RNA) between a host and itself. In the same manner, through thoughtful initial interactions, we begin to build bridges that will prove indispensable in the future.

Now that the connection has been made, RNA contained in a capsid of a virus can be released into a host cell. The RNA sequence of the virus has been coded for lean management tools and strategies. These include waste recognition and kaizen opportunities, equal treatment of all stakeholders, as well as implementation of flow and pull systems, to name a few. By the same token, caring interactions with others enable us to glimpse into their concerns and transfer our lean knowledge and vision with minimal resistance.

Recurrent humble and caring interactions with others invigorate trust, increase collaboration and safeguard the sustainability of lean improvements.

6 Comments

  1. What creative thinking, Ramonka! I was familiar with the concept of lean management from my corporate days, but to use it as way to explain a virus is excellent ,out-of-the-box thinking. Thanks for expanding my brain. 🙂 ~Terri

  3. Wonderfully energetic writing—I can hear the speaker’s voice in this article. I love it!

Share Your Thoughts